Don't Let Them See Your Back
by in these chains
Summary: AU Liana's a new third year to Hogwarts. On the ride there she acquires a stalker, friends and a crush. With homework, avoiding Zabini and surviving Truth or Dare at the Golden Saucer on Fridays, Liana has a full year ahead of her! BETTER THAN IT SOUNDS!
1. New Faces

**Disclaimer: I don't own _Harry Potter_. Guys, this is AU. Includes OC's, OOC-ness, and does not follow the plot line of PoA very much. Yea, it takes place during Harry's third year, but I boosted the time period so it takes place in 2005. Cuz I wanted to. And full credit goes to my friend Shannon for Saria's hair, Harry's obsession and inspiring and/or completely coming up with some of the dialog. This is a bit far-fetched, as few thirteen-year-old boys are as evil as I've made Blaise Zabini, but who cares? Yeah, it's very different than in the books and movies. But what other fanfic has three insane teenage Slytherin girls, an Asia-obsessed Harry Potter, a punk Draco Malfoy, computers in the dorms and working electronic devices on the school grounds, AND a plot to boot? Not many.**

It was my first year at Hogwarts. My family had just moved from America to England when I was twelve, and on my thirteenth birthday, which had barely any party, just my parents and brother giving me presents and cake, I received an odd letter on parchment in the mail. And here I was, on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, dragging a heavy trunk and an overweight tabby cat onto the Hogwarts Express. To say I was nervous would be an understatement, especially as I was coming in three years late. I would be going into third year. I was wearing a My Chemical Romance T-shirt, a black skirt, green leggings, black fishnet stockings and gloves, and cheap imitation black Converse, with mismatched skull shoelaces. I had short, dark brown hair that was highlighted red, and glasses.

"Stimpy," I said, addressing my cat as the train started to move, "this might be difficult." The compartments were nearly full. I groaned inwardly. I was not the best at introducing myself. Suddenly, I was knocked into the wall by a dark-haired, pale-faced boy looking about my own age as he passed me.

"Watch where you're going," he snarled.

"_You _hit into _me_," I felt the need to say, before common sense kicked in. This guy was quite a bit bigger than me.

"You want to make something out of it, you filthy little mudblood?"

"Mudblood?" I asked, totally bewildered. "What the hell is-"

"You can always tell a mudblood, especially when they _ask _what one is," he said. "Let me fill you in, here. Mudbloods don't stand with Slytherins. So unless you know to mouth off to your own sort and not to your betters, you may as well get off the train."

"My _betters?_" I demanded indignantly, completely forgetting that I'd quit karate for a reason; because I was bad at it. "Get some _manners _and maybe I'd consider you an equal!"

"You're the one who needs some manners, Mudblood," he spat. "You obviously don't know who I am."

"Nor can I honestly say that I care," I lashed back. "Now if you would move - I need to find a seat."

Instead of moving, he started seized my upper arms.

"Get the FUCK off!" I yelped. He ignored me. His fingers dug into my arms.

"My name is Blaise Zabini, but I wouldn't expect filth like you to know about us. My family is indirectly descended from Slytherin himsel-"

"Shove off her, Zabini!"

Zabini whipped around. A blond guy with a pale, pointed face was walking up to where Zabini was keeping me held in place, and a girl was right next to him with a look of utter hatred on her face. They were both wearing robes, but they both had Converse. The girl had droopy pigtails in her dark brown hair that would not look out of place on a Tim Burton character, and a thick silver chain around her neck, from which hung a huge blue stone shaped kind of like a heart, but not quite.

"I'd back out of this if I were you, Malfoy," said Zabini. "You don't want to be defending riffraff like this."

"Was that a threat or some nice, friendly advice?" asked the dark-haired girl angrily, with an American accent like mine.

"It's whatever you want it to be, you blood traitor. I don't know who's worse, you and Malfoy, or Little Miss Mudblood here."

"If I may interrupt," I said in a would-be fierce voice, except the words shook. I brought my knee up as hard as I could between his legs and he bent over in pain, letting go of my arms. I shoved past him, my legs wobbly from knowing what could have just happened. "You freak."

"Watch yourself, Mudblood," Zabini said, standing up and a sneaky look that said _it's only a matter of time _on his pained face. "Next time you talk back to your betters, I doubt Malfoy and McCartney will be around to protect you." He glared at me in the eye and walked away.

"_Protect _me?" I snarled at his retreating back. "I would've KILLED you with my bare hands if you tried anything on me, freak!"

"You okay?" asked the girl.

"Yeah, fine... guy's a jerk. You know him?"

She made a face. "Yeah. Unfortunately. I'm Saria McCartney, and this is Draco Malfoy."

"Liana Curtis. I like the way your hair is, do you by any chance watch Tim Burton movies?"

"Yeah! That was where I got the idea for it. What's your favorite Tim Burton movie?"

"I think _Nightmare Before Christmas. Corpse Bride _was good too, though."

"I liked _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory_."

"Oh. I still have to see that one."

"Do you? It was great! I have the DVD, if you want to watch it. I brought my portable DVD player."

"You have a portable DVD player?"

"Sure do! You ever seen _Titanic_?"

"No."

"No? Well, we'll fix that."

"Oh, God," said Draco, his eyes rolling upwards. "Please don't, Saria, you're a fan enough for the whole school."

She grinned. "You can never have too many _Titanic _fans, Draco."

I laughed. "Or _Lord of the Rings, _or _Phantom of the Opera._"

"Great movies! I remember Harry did the best Gollum impression with that BoA CD last year, remember, Draco?"

"Great Christmas party!" he in his drawling voice. I must have looked confused, because he added, "Our friend Harry is sort of obsessed with BoA, the infamous J-Pop singer-"

"-who is now hated by most of the school because Harry is so obsessed with her," finished Saria. They both laughed.

"You have a place to sit, Liana?" asked Draco. I shook my head.

"I was looking for one when Zabini crashed into me," I replied.

"Want to sit with us? There's only one other guy in our compartment, and we're waiting for our friend Kaitlyn to come back from the drivers' compartment," said Saria.

"Sure - thanks." I grabbed my trunk and followed Draco and Saria as they walked down the train and into another compartment.

"Hey, Shane," said Draco, sliding open the door. A guy with tanned skin and pure black hair, with a few streaks of green, was sitting in the compartment. He was also wearing robes, but like Saria and Draco, he was wearing Converse, and was reading _Death and the Arrow_, by Chris Priestley.

"Hey, guys," said the guy. He had an American accent as well. "Who's the new girl?"

"This is Liana Curtis - Liana, meet Shane Richards."

Shane dog-eared his book and put it down, smiling at me. God, he was handsome. "Nice to meet you, Liana. How'd you manage the misfortune to meet the most nauseating couple in the school?"

"Yeah, you're _my _best friend too, Shane," said Saria sarcastically.

"Some freak called Zabini was giving me some trouble and they helped me out," I replied, lifting my trunk into the luggage hold. I let Stimpy out of his carrier and sat down close to the door. "Thanks."

"Hey, Zabini had it coming," said Draco. "Shane's still got the bruises from the last time he talked to him."

"Bruises?" I asked, alarmed.

"Apparently, 'filthy mudbloods' need to be banged around," said Shane, shrugging.

"He calls you that too?'

"Yep."

"What does it mean?"

"It's an insult to someone who's Muggleborn," said Saria. "Wizards and witches who don't have Muggles in their heritage call themselves 'purebloods'-"

"Me and Saria," put in Draco.

"-and if they're real jerks, they call Muggleborn witches and wizards 'mudbloods.' It's supposed to mean dirty blood."

"Me." Shane raised his hand. "My parents are Muggles. And yours, too?'

"Yeah. I was just confused, they call Muggleborn witches and wizards 'mutts' or 'half-breeds.' Actually, quite a few words, but this is the first time I've heard of 'mudblood.'"

"Hm. You like My Chemical Romance?"

"Yeah, they're like, the best band in the world."

"No!" exclaimed Saria. "What about Aerosmith and Flogging Molly?"

"MCR are better!" Shane and I said at the same time. We met each other's eyes and grinned. Oh...my...god.

"No, they're really not. Ugh, what is _taking _Kaitlyn so damn long?" Saria stood up. "I'm going to go find her."

"Find who?" asked a blond girl with glasses, coming into the compartment. Along with Saria and Shane, Kaitlyn was also speaking with an American accent. She wasn't wearing her robes, instead wearing a yellow cami and orange pants.

"Look, guys, I found Kaitlyn!"

The blond girl, now known to me as Kaitlyn, laughed and held out a fist. She and Saria punched their fists together, saying, "Wonder Twins, activate!"

Draco shook his head and Shane laughed. I smiled.

"Who's the MCR fan?" asked Kaitlyn, nodding towards my shirt.

"Liana Curtis," I said.

"I'm Kaitlyn Churchill. Are you new?"

"Yeah. Just moved from America. I'd been going to the Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but then my family moved to London, and here I am."

We started talking animatedly about school, myself asking questions about Hogwarts and the other four answering and talking about the things that should be avoided, suck as a trick stair on the way to the Slytherin common room, if I was in Slytherin, and the four houses, their founders, and the kinds of people in them. Shane, Saria, Draco and Kaitlyn were all in Slytherin. A plump witch pushing a trolley came past and we all bought candy. Eventually, the two boys were kicked out so Kaitlyn and I could change into our robes. When we let them back in, they were laughing about something.

"What's funny?" asked Kaitlyn.

"N-nothing," choked Draco, wiping his eyes. Shane was doubled over in laughter. Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow.

"Draco, come here." Still wiping tears of laughter away, he walked over to her. Kaitlyn slapped his face twice, and poked him in the stomach, singing "Pillsbury dough boy! HEE-HEE!"

"What the hell?" I felt compelled to ask Saria. She shrugged.

"That's Kaitlyn for you," Saria replied. I smiled, laughing slightly.

"DAMMIT, KAITLYN, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN THAT I HATE THAT?" demanded Draco, causing Shane to fall to the floor, clutching his sides hysterically. "Shut up, Shane."

The train stopped short, and Shane rolled over and hit the wall.

"We can't be at the school already," said Saria, going back into our compartment and looking out of the window. "Uh-oh..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I think it's a dementor," she said quietly.

"Everyone grab some of that chocolate we bought!" said Draco, and we rushed back into the compartment. Even though they had never had one at Salem, I knew what dementors were, and what they did. It passed our compartment, taking all the warmth and happiness with it, and went straight down the train. I forced my numb fingers to push a piece of the chocolate up to my mouth, and as soon as I tasted it, I felt warmer. **(A/N: I didn't want to even bother with the dementoid scene, so sorry if it sucked!)**

"Well, that sucked," said Saria cheerfully, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth. I ate another bite, and felt some worth return to the world.

"It did, didn't it?" agreed Kaitlyn. "I think one of the teachers is getting rid of it, so we should be on our way soon."

As she spoke, the train began to move again.

"First Zabini and now this," I said, shaking my head. "I'm off to a beautiful start at Hogwarts!"

"Well, you've got us," said Saria, and I grinned.

"Yeah, I suppose I do."


	2. New Places

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. Again, Harry's obsession with Asia, Draco's obsession with chocolate, Saria's mouthing off to Pansy, belong to my friend Shannon.**

"Now, may I introduce a new student?" said Professor McGonagall. I was standing behind her, awkwardly shifting my weight. "This is Liana Curtis."

I smiled uncertainly at everyone in the Great Hall. Draco, Shane, Saria and Kaitlyn shot me encouraging looks from the Slytherin table, and Blaise Zabini was making fun of a skinny, black-haired boy with glasses. Four people who were evidently the boy's friends - a girl with bushy brown hair, a girl with bright red hair, a short boy with light brown hair and another boy, very tall, with red hair like the girl's - were looking at Zabini like they wanted to kill him.

"Miss Curtis, the Sorting Hat?"

I sat down on a three-legged stool as Professor McGonagall dropped a huge, patched hat onto my head. A voice spoke in my ear.

"Hmm... not dumb, I can see, not dumb in the slightest. In fact, rather intelligent. Not as brave as one could be, but not a coward either. Difficult... oh, this one is a SLYTHERIN!"

The last word rang into the Great Hall and I stood up, taking the hat off, and walking to the Slytherin table. Everyone was clapping, as I sat down between Saria and Kaitlyn.

"I almost died," I said matter-of-factly. "I _hate _getting in front of people unless I have a song, or script, or something!"

"Well, you're a Slytherin now!" exclaimed Kaitlyn, giving me a hug. I grinned.

"Welcome to the best House in the school," added Saria. "Now, the first years come in and we sit and starve while they're getting their Houses."

After many growlings of the stomach and eleven new Slytherins, food appeared on the plates. I loaded up with many things I liked and a few of which I didn't know the names, because they were English, but no meat. I'm a vegetarian. After a few bites, I noticed Saria didn't have any meat on her plate either.

"Vegetarian?" I asked, my mouth full of pumpernickel.

"Yep," she replied. I swallowed the bread and looked around at the food, one particularly odd pot standing out.

"What is that?"

Saria followed my gaze. "That would be Fran Drescher. No, it's not, it's steak-and-kidney pudding." I guess my face looked appalled, because she added, "Yeah, sounds gross."

"Tastes great," said Draco, his mouth full of it.

"Does not," argued Kaitlyn. Draco nodded vigorously.

"On a completely different note, I really must say that I think Gryffindor will win Quidditch this year," said Shane idly, twirling his fork. Draco was on him immediately.

"No way!"

"Come on, Harry kicks your ass every time you play!"

"No, he doesn't! He just wins!"

A heated discussion followed, and Saria and Kaitlyn began laughing. "They do this every year," explained Saria.

"They left without me," I said, putting on my best imitation of Sid from _Ice Age_. "They do this every year!..._Why? _Doesn't anyone love me? Isn't there anyone who cares about Sid the sloth?"

"Hey, wide body, curb it next time!" yelled Saria, which is another line.

"You like _Ice Age_?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? That was, like, one of the best animated movies ever! Did you ever see _Pirates of the Caribbean_?"

"I love _Pirates!_ Did you know they're making a second one?"

"Yeah!" Saria was really excited now. "I can't wait!"

"Oh no," muttered Kaitlyn. "You got her started, Liana, now she'll never-"

"What was your favorite part?"

"Probably when Jack throws Will the sword and he's fighting with his hands tied behind his back! Orlando Bloom is so hot, even though I kind of hate that fact because all the preps like him."

"Me too, only it's Jesse McCartney."

"Isn't your last name...?"

"McCartney? Yeah..."

I laughed. "No relation, then?"

"Not that Ghandi knows of."

Shane and Draco were still arguing about Quidditch. I smiled, and looked around at the people in the Great Hall, stopping on the Gryffindor table. I caught the eye of the girl who had been glaring at Zabini, and smiled, but she just shook her head, giving me a scathing look. Confused, I looked to her right, and caught a different eye, of the brown-haired boy who had been with her, the black-haired kid and the redhead. He gave me a kind of sarcastic smile.

"Um, should I be worried?" I asked, indicating their backs. "They looked like they wanted to kill me."

"Who, Rodney and Hermit Crab?" asked Shannon, looking surprised. "Oh, I bet they just saw you and Zabini on the train and got the wrong idea. I'll call them over. Jillian, too. OY, JILLIAN! RODNEY! HERMIT CRAB! RON! HARRY! GINNY!" she yelled, beckoning them over. Five Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw stood up to join us.

"Guys, this is Liana," said Kaitlyn. I smiled nervously.

"Know Blaise Zabini, Liana?" asked Ron.

"Kind of - he was giving me some trouble on the train."

"Oh."

"Konnitiwa, I'm Harry Potter," said the kid with black hair.

"Wow, really? I've heard of you."

"I told you, even in America, Harry," said Shane. "Please, don't torture her with the story of the Great Japanese Baby."

"It's the Great CHINESE Baby, you sinner!"

"I don't care!"

"Shut _up,_ Harry," said the Ravenclaw. She had brown hair and was very skinny.

"Harry, look! Chicken teriyaki! Fetch!" Saria threw a piece of it in the direction of the Gryffindor table and he ran to get it. The girl with brown shook her head.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said.

"No she's not, she's Hermit Crab," said Kaitlyn.

"Oh, honestly!" she said, apparently annoyed. "Come on, then, you've been calling me that for two years!"

"What made you think we'd stop?" asked the Ravenclaw. "I'm Jillian, by the way, Jillian Radcliffe."

"Erm, all right, then," said the tall guy with red hair, looking at Hermione/Hermit Crab apprehensively. "I'm Ron Weasley."

"Ginny Weasley," said the girl with red hair.

"Hello."

"Rodney Abrams," said the boy with brown hair.

"Why do you insist on _throwing _the teriyaki, Saria, isn't it easier to just _give _it to me?" demanded Harry, coming back to the Slytherin table.

"The point is to get you and your Asia-obsessed self _away _from us."

"Ice cold," said Kaitlyn.

"Bah-URN, baby," added Shane. Harry, glaring, merely chomped on his teriyaki. I laughed at this.

After dinner, I was pretty hungry, as there was little to eat that I dared to try. Dessert, however, was incredible.

"Are you saving your food so you won't starve and be too weak to run from the raptors?" Saria asked me. "Because you have quite a lot."

"I'm cutting down," I informed her, heaping my plate with chocolate-peanut butter ice cream.

"I can only imagine."

I grinned. "I was known in my old school as Ice Cream Girl. I remember one time my friend Brianna was just like, 'One day I'm going to melt all her ice cream...'"

Everyone laughed. I grinned, shoveling ice cream into my mouth. New friends, and ice cream to boot? Hogwarts wasn't seeming too bad.

After dessert, we headed to our respective towers. Draco and Saria were walking next to each other, her with her head on his shoulder. Shane was pretending to retch, much the the amusement of Kaitlyn and myself. Kaitlyn pulled a Wonka bar out of her pocket.

"Bought it from the trolley," she said. Draco's head suddenly snapped up like he was a bloodhound that had scented a rabbit.

"SHE HAS CHOCOLATE!"

"DON'T LET HIM KILL ME!" screeched Kaitlyn, running for her life. "CATCH!" She launched the bar of chocolate over Draco's head into Shane's open hands.

"Run for the chocolate, Draco!" yelled Saria as Draco turned around and barreled at Shane. "I'm open! I'm open!"

"GO LONG!"

Saria ran and caught the chocolate like a football player. "HEADS UP, LIANA!" she called as Draco tackled her, throwing it. I caught it and tossed it to Kaitlyn, who wasted no time in unwrapping it and breaking off a large slab, popping it in her mouth and licking the half that was left.

"Aaaaaaaawwwww," whined Draco. By then, we were all bent in half with laughter. Suddenly, Kaitlyn grabbed my hand in a bone-crunching grip.

"There he is! There he is!"

"Ow - Kaitlyn - the hand, the bone, the pain!"

Kaitlyn wasn't listening, instead opting for following the handsome guy walking past us with her eyes. Shane rolled his eyes.

"That's Cedric Diggory," he said, sounding bored. "Kaitlyn's been infatuated with him since year one."

"He's the hottest guy in the school," she sighed. "Even if he is a Hufflepuff."

"Ahem?" Shane and Draco both asked.

"Oh, Draco, you're taken, and you guys are both like brothers."

"Yeah, only I can call him hot," said Saria, feigning indignance.

"He isn't bad-looking," I said, surveying him.

"I MUST BE IN SIXTH YEAR!" screamed Kaitlyn, and everyone (including Cedric) turned to stare at her. Saria, Draco, and Shane burst out laughing, and I tried not to laugh. It was my first day, we must remember. Kaitlyn merely shrugged it off.

"A little loud, Kaitlyn?"

"Shut up, Draco."

"Wait, I know a better way to get people to stare at you," said Saria. "Watch this. STOP STARING AT ME!"

Of course, everyone turned to stare at her. We all burst out laughing and people hurried on.

Inside the common room, Saria and Kaitlyn showed me to the third year girl's room. It was shared with Pansy Parkinson (the most conniving, evil bitch in the school, according to a whispered introduction courtesy of Kaitlyn) and Tabitha Winston (the biggest whore in the school, according to a second whispered introduction, courtesy of Saria this time).

"New girl, huh?" said Pansy, as I started putting things from my trunk onto my desk. "Are you a pureblood?"

"No," I replied.

"I suppose you're not even a half-blood, then?" she said, looking at me like I was pond scum or something.

"No."

"You and Richards are the only Mudbloods EVER to be Sorted into Slytherin!"

"Whoop-de-friggin'-doo," I muttered under my breath.

"_What _are you _wearing_?" asked Tabitha, looking down her nose at my T-shirt, fishnet sleeves and stockings, and black skirt.

"She's wearing a long black dress with holes at the bottoms and one sleeve ripped off, and it has a red corset over it, with red lace gloves with the fingertips off," snapped Saria. "Fuck off, Winston."

"I think she might just want to, just give her any guy above third year," said Kaitlyn. "Draco and Shane have it worse, poor guys," she said to me in an undertone. "They get to share with Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini."

"They do?" I asked, horrified.

"But besides your roommates, Hogwarts is awesome," said Saria, shooting murderous glances at Parkinson and Winston.

"Classes start tomorrow," Kaitlyn reminded her.

"Damn. Actually, we should've gotten our schedules - aha!" She reached under her pillow and pulled out a schedule. "Ghandi says that Dumbledore poofs them there with magic after the feast."

"Ghandi?"

"Don't ask," said Kaitlyn. I shrugged.

It turned out that third-year Slytherins were in classes together aside from the electives, along with third-years of other Houses. First period Divination was shared with the Ravenclaws ("Yay, we can fall asleep with Jillian!" exclaimed Saria), second period was electives (I had Ancient Runes with the other fourteen people who had taken it, while Kaitlyn and Saria took Muggle Studies), third period was Potions with the Gryffindors, fourth was study hour, fifth was Herbology with the Ravenclaws, sixth was Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs, then lunch, then Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors, ninth period was rest hour, tenth was Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, then dinner, and then we were free to roam about the castle until ten thirty, for third, fourth and fifth years.

"Full day," I said, my eyes wide.

"First year was brutal, you'll be fine," said Saria bracingly.

I pulled a short black nightgown with transparent purple lace hanging down to the knees on, and lay down to sleep. Kaitlyn was rummaging around in her trunk for something. After twenty minutes of this, I sat up.

"Need something, Kaitlyn?" I asked sleepily. The bed was comfortable.

"Yes! I found it!"

She climbed into her bed, wearing pink flannel pajama shorts and a white tank top.

"She's looking for the CD that Cedric gave her," Saria said, rolling her eyes. "The last Metallica every."

"I fall asleep with it," Kaitlyn said, not sheepish in the slightest.

"Sad."

"What about you, Miss I'm-Never-Going-To-Let-My-Big-Necklace-Out-Of-My-Sight-And-Put-It-In-My-Sock-Drawer-So-No-One-Steals-It?"

"Shut up, now!"

I grinned, snuggling into the covers as Stimpy padded up the bed. He and Molly, a black Jamaican cat belonging to Saria, were becoming friends. I stroked his head and tried to fall asleep, the prospect of classes looming over my head.


End file.
